Emerald City Knights
by Brendan Storm
Summary: Wally and Roy decide to blackmail Dick into helping them with a drug bust and rave in Wichita, but with the scarecrow around it's never that easy. Pt 3 finally up and there's swearing, so live with it.
1. Quick Impressions

Title: Emerald City Knights Pt1 Quick Impressions

Title: Emerald City Knights 

Pt1 Quick Impressions

Author: Brendan Storm

Rating: PG-13 for Roy language.

Disclaimer: Standard I don't own the famous characters.Please don't try to get blood from a stone

Archiving:FanFiction.Net, Bludhaven List, any others, please contact the author

Feedback Welcome

Warnings: Yes I am writing about my hometown.Why not?

Synopsis:A la Nightwing +, Wally tells the story about how he and Roy conned Dick into coming out to Wichita for a drug bust and a rave.Of course it's never really that simple now is it?

Author's Notes: I've been itching to write Wally fic for a few months and this one is crowding in on me while I was fleshing out other stuff.

Part One:Quick Impressions

My name is Wally West, you might have heard of me.I'm the fastest man alive.The Guy in the goofy blond wig sitting next to me on this slow-as-mud flight is Dick Grayson.You may know him as the son of multi-billionaire Bruce Wayne, heir to the Wayne Empire, all around great cop and possessor of the BPD "Best buns of the month" in the female officers' locker room pool for three months running.That's why he's wearing the wig, because his secret identity needs a secret identity.Yeah, he has a secret identity.Most folks would know him as Nightwing, fearless leader of the Titans from way back.He's taken ladies, by a woman who's almost as smart, beautiful and perfect as my Linda.Of course I'm biased a little.

Linda's my wife.It's sort of a tradition for speedsters to get married, have kids, and pass on the legacy of the speed.Jay Garrick, the original Flash, has even mentioned meeting my daughter once when we went into the future.Now if my Linda and his Barbara ever get together, well I don't know what would happen.

Linda and I have a bond that is so strong it's kept us from losing each other through time, death, absorption by the speed force that powers all of the speedsters, even hell and the demon Neron couldn't stop our love.I was a cranky, impulsive jackass until I met her, and she knows it.Now Dick, he's my best friend but he's got a lousy track record with women.He even got married once for a case.That's not dedication, that's living with Batman too long.

First and foremost on his list is his on again off again with his babysitter from when he was nine.Dick's got a thing for strong, willful redheads who can kick his ass.Kory was great and he almost married her.Donna was always a substitute sister, but Raven and Jesse Quick have had crushes on him.I think if Toni were over 18 she might have tried something.He's rumored to have had the Huntress and Catwoman, not at once no matter what Roy says.But I think the Catwoman one was started by her to get Batman jealous.Problem with that idea is that Batman doesn't get jealous, he's grim and creepy, where's the room for jealous?The only one he's ever truly cried bloody tears for has to be his "Babs" though.

Did you know that when Dick gets drunk, which he never does unless Roy and I can trick him into it, he gets loud and poetic?The most gawdawful poems about her red hair, the emeralds of her eyes, the shape of her thighs, you get the picture.But, we tape it and use it to get him to do things for us, standard best friend blackmail stuff.Barry and Hal would do it all the time to J'onn too.One time they got him so wired on Double-stuff that, oh well, I promised Uncle Barry I wouldn't tell how the '81 Coast City Blackout happened.So anyway, it's one of these sonnets about the wonderful and erotic mind of "Babs" that's led Roy, Dick (in the dippy blond wig pretending to be some cat named Alfred Draper) and I to this metropolis of the plains, Wichita, Kansas.

Metropolis is the city in the clouds (especially with the B13 technology), Gotham's the dark opposite, Bludhaven's worse and New York is just crowded.Wichita is the laid back cousin of the four out in the middle of the plains.There are possibly ten blocks of skyscrapers downtown, none more than fifty stories, only about two even close to that mark.Boeing, Raytheon, Koch, Wayne Aerospace, LexCorp and various other airplane manufacturers are why they call this place the Air Capital.PizzaShack and Red Castle burgers were invented here, both moved.It only takes a look out the plane's window to see that Nightwing and Arsenal will have to look into other means of travel, there's no rooftop to express.

Arsenal's the third of our trio, the reason we're on this mind numbingly slow plane.Roy Harper is a testament to the power of inner strength and second chances.Tragedy, abandonment, tragedy addiction and even more tragedy and this guy is not only one of the world's greatest archers, but an incredible friend, great to have at parties and I can only hope to be as wonderful a father when Linda and I get around to conceiving that daughter Jay mentioned.Sure he's crude, rude a partier and a serious wise ass, but then again I used to charge hospitals to deliver organs and Dick's never once told us about sex with Kory in the T-Jet.We're jerks in our own way, but we're family.

"Did you know there are only four hundred thousand people in twenty square miles of city.Mid continent airport has the largest runway in the country and is the fifth in line for an emergency shuttle landing, " I was saying as we exited the plane finally.The line was going so slowly, I could feel my molecules getting older.

"You know that much about this place?"Dick asked, impressed.

"Yep, read it in the brochure about five thousand times during the flight."

"Hated that didn't you," he sounded so smug.

"Nope, not really, I read the entire Grisham library, designed my own tomb and wrote a best selling romance novel in about ten minutes," I deadpanned.

"Oh yeah, that's going to be great, I got to beta read that one," Roy said keeping up the joke."What's that the second Titans romance novel now?"

"Ok, so I was bored," said Dick under his breath."It sold eight thousand copies on line."Roy and I can't tease him often enough; we have to get them where we can."I can't believe Robin told you about that."

"How did he find out about that?" Roy asked as we passed the terminal security.

"Oracle," Dick and I said together.

"How'd it know?" Roy kept digging.Roy and I have this nagging feeling that Oracle and Dick are connected somehow.Vic said Oracle sounded jealous last time we told "it" we were going to help Starfire's planet again.Running bet is that Oracle's either an A.I. or a girl and has a crush on him too.

"Drop it."Dick almost has the voice down, but not quite, the two of us flanked our fearless leader and chick magnet and laughed all the way to baggage claim.We picked up our luggage and headed past the Big Dog Motorcycle display.I had to get outside and stretch my legs before I screamed.I have no idea why they like motorcycles; I've never needed one.Obviously.

I'm about to take about twenty laps around the city and kiss my wife just to get the kinks out of my back from that stupid airplane seat when I spot a huge guy holding a sign that says Harper.You seen pictures of Superman and Batman standing together?This guy'd make them look short.The only other person I'd ever seen wear a fedora and trench coat and make it look good was J'onn in his human persona.This guy made Dick Tracy look bad.I'd be willing to bet he had a crew cut if he ever took the fedora off.

"Mr. Harper, Mr. West, Mr. ah Draper, how was your trip?"The voice was like a radio announcer, deep and real Earl Jonsey.

"They wouldn't give me another bag of salted nuts, but I did read your dossier, Mr. Garrison," replied Roy.Roy's an open book sometimes.You could almost see his need to ask for Mr. Hat. He'd be sweating to not make that crack in about three more mentions of this guy's name.

"Thank you, Mr. Harper.KBI* has been very excited to have you and your team here to back us up on this bust.The warehouses are being staked out as we speak."

"Refresh the quickest attention span alive again and explain why you needed us, Roy," I asked.

"Well you know my favorite kind of bad guy," Roy began.

"Sexy and a bad shot?" Two points for Dick, I coughed loudly to stop a laugh.

"And they say I'm a wise ass. No you nitwits, drug running, the twist here is that there are a lot of them on the streets here, and the stuff's bad.Real bad."He paused."They're dropping like flies, which happens when the stuff gets cut to make it last longer, but it's not the normal 'use Cheer to make it last, and the poor junkies die' kind of thing.They're dying of fright.This one has Scarecrow written all over it."

"Oh great Robbie, one of yours."

End Part One.


	2. Quick Analysis

Emerald City Knights Pt 2: Quick Analysis

Emerald City Knights

By Brendan Storm

Part 2: Quick Analysis

(Disclaimer and title block in pt one)

My name is Wally West.I'm the Flash, the fastest man alive and I'm very scared of clowns.They drive me nuts.I thought I'd share that now because unfortunately I have a feeling I'll be facing that little hang up sooner or later.That's the kind of soul searching you do when you have to bring down the (fingers making quote marks) Master of Fear (unquote).

Scarecrow.Batman's rouge's gallery has a lot more psychos than mine.I inherited most of mine from Uncle Barry, but they're just honest crooks, you know, made a life choice to do things the easy way and use silly boomerangs or mirrors or tops to do it with.Batman would mop the floor with my guys, I always do.His guys on the other hand, well, there's something about a million or so people stuck on one little island that makes the evil ones just that much more evil.The mind shatters just a little more, horror flick people read the paper in Gotham and get ideas off of page one.Oh sure the Midwest has its share of cannibals and serial killers who put fifteen bodies in an oil drum and bury it with four or five other drums in their lawn, but the costumed guys are, well, just rouges.Thieves and bank robbers who've been brought back from the dead, but guys Barry and I used to visit once in a while and talk about football.In the Midwest costumes mean difficult captures and interesting cases.

In Gotham a costume means at least a three-digit body count.

"Jonathan Crane, expert biologist and psychologist, thin and wiry.Do not underestimate his agility or his hand-to-hand abilities.He is a scientist first, though and will attempt to use his tailored fear toxins first.Beware his gloves, or anything he tries to touch you with.The toxins are fast acting and each have a unique effect.The good news is that if you're exposed there is a common base to his compounds that makes it able to be counteracted.We'll have antidotes for his most commonly used ones faxed into your forensics units to begin production when agents become infected.The warehouse will be protected..." That's Nightwing giving the briefing.He got into costume a while ago and has been in charge ever since.I hid the wig.How hideous, I think it was the one I used at his fake marriage, the one where the minister didn't explode.He and Arsenal have been setting up the bust for about the last hour or so.Doesn't take a genius to see why we all elected him leader of the Titans way back when he was in the soprano shorts.

My yellow outfit looked awesome, his ... well it got him girls.Roy and I still don't understand that.Speaking of Roy, he's been acting all business, weird for Roy.Except for slipping once and saying Hellacool in a squeaky voice, he has been very well behaved too.I decided against looking for the pod that replaced him when he handed me the pictures of the deceased.Those expressions were enough to make anyone sober and serious.

The situation was this; in the last four days over a hundred people had died of related overdose in this city.It was worse than the usual "get high on this and your heart explodes cause it's laced with Ammonia or something" type of overdose though because it wasn't the chemical compounds killing them.They had all died of fright.Big glassy eyes, mouths locked in contorted screams, grey hairs due to shock.Real nasty picture.

Robbie had told me about the last time scarecrow had attacked him.Toxin made him sweat real bad, hallucinate all sorts of nasties.Kept to himself exactly what he hallucinated, but I have my suspicions.Former sidekicks like us always have a fear of filling boots, letting others down, being unworthy.I had Barry's shadow, Roy has Ollie's clone, time displacement, robot whatever, and Dick, well, he has "Grim and Creepy."

"You all have your assignments, gentlemen.Good hunting."Agent Garrison, Chuck to his friends, loomed above Nightwing as he stood up to close the meeting.I did a double take when I noticed the guy's tie wasn't Government Agent issued.It had blueprints for the Enterprise on it.Hellacool."Nightwing, where will your team be while we're containing and securing the area?"

"Well, we figured we'd enter from the rooftop and make sure you don't have to expend any agency resources," said Roy."A fast scout, a few well placed shots and Mr. Junior Scientist here to neutralize the gas."

"How come I get to neutralize the gas, Bow-head?"

"Cause I don't wanna face my fears tonight, short pants, too close to Halloween."

"Good idea so lets just send in Zippy and go enjoy a couple drinks on the bureau."

"Hey waitaminute!I'm the one with 'Ode to Her short hairs' on cassette here," I chimed in, smiling.

"Oh yeah.I want that back by the way, Fleetfeet.You scout, I get the gas, Arsenal shoots from safety."

"Now, that's what I call teamwork."Chuck chuckled."My men will be in position in one hour."

*** *** ***

I killed half an hour learning the streets of the City that looks like a suburb.Then I ran home and cooked supper for Linda.One of the nice things about generating speed is that I can boil a pot of water in less than a nanosecond.I can also make my own pasta from scratch.Aunt Iris taught me to cook and Uncle Barry taught me applied thermodynamics.

I also managed to track down six soft cover editions of "Sawdust and Chrome" a story about an aerialist and his beautiful but wheelchair bound redheaded lover.Whipped up to the Watchtower to secretly replace a bag of Oreos that Kyle didn't know wasn't fair game.Left a copy of the book for Clark, Diana, J'onn, and Kyle. On a whim,I put one into Orion's inbox.I love being JLA, no secrets and bigger prank payoffs.Fun thing is that Clark reads almost as fast as I do.I was putting a copy in Diana's mailbox when she walked in.She said she already had a copy.Didn't know she read that kind of thing.Kyle'd have some art beamed to the Titans Tower for me once he actually finished it in about six weeks.

I also ran a copy to Alfred over at Brentwood Academy.His eyes gleamed and he promised something "appropriate."He also said it was very droll.I have no idea.I got back into position five minutes before everything was supposed to go down.

Six minutes later all hell had broken loose.

(Continued in Part 3: Quick Discoveries)


	3. Quick Discoveries

Emerald City Knights  
  
By Brendan Storm  
  
Part 3: Quick Discoveries  
  
(Disclaimer and title block in pt one)  
  
  
  
"My name is... Nnnnyaaagggghh!!!!"  
  
"Lovely, the speedster is afraid of losing his identity. Even clowns didn't garner this deep of a reaction." Dr Jonathan Crane rubbed his bony hands together and smiled under the burlap sack he used for a mask.  
  
"That's great, boss. What do we do with these two?"  
  
"The blue one gets the new gas. The red one, I want to crack him myself." The laughter filled the warehouse. Only two hours had passed since our incredibly failed attack and I admit it, Scarecrow defeated us all. The area had been saturated with a new kind of fear toxin that Scarecrow had been working on out here in Wichita. We should have expected the unexpected, but this new stuff had a euphoric effect before it hit. Combined with no scent or color, we had no clue when it had happened. We just walked right into an empty building and it wasn't until the KBI guys had come in that the gas had taken hold.  
  
"BARBARA!!!!!" Dick sounded like he was having a great time. I almost felt bad for dragging him along, except that I already had my plate full with my very own hallucinations. Hadn't heard anything from Arsenal yet. The majority of the whimpering on my part was obscuring my hearing. Did I mention how much I hated Batman's enemies? A wave of nausea took hold suddenly.  
  
"Wally, I'm leaving you."  
  
"Linda?" I looked around. My wife, the love of my life, whom I've cheated death for at least three times was standing in front of me in the little snowflake panty set I'd given her last Christmas. "What's going on?"  
  
"You jerk. I'm leaving you. Don't you ever listen to me? You're just not stable enough for me."  
  
"Wait, Linda, I'm not what?"  
  
"You just never listen. You never have enough time for me. Good bye, Wally."  
  
"No. Linda I'll change. I'll give it all up. Anything you want. I need you."  
  
"I know. It's pathetic really. I need someone with strength of mind, character, both feet on the ground."  
  
"Coming dear?" What the hell? Piper? She left me for a gay man? NO. This is another hallucination, it has to be a ... a... I opened my eyes and saw the cage the sick master of fear had me in through my tears as I collapsed. "You're no Barry, are you?" Piper's voice said as I passed out.  
  
*** *** Roy *** ***  
  
"Can't do it."  
  
"What? What is he saying?" The freak in the sack asked.  
  
"Can't do it." I repeated.  
  
"Hand me his profile, Willy."  
  
"Can't do it." The best way to piss em off is to make em work for their jollies. "You can't scare me. I've lived my fears." I was stuck in a separate room from Flash and Nightwing, my two best friends in the entire, what did Vic call it, a hyperverse?  
  
Man I missed Joe sometimes, he coulda took over a guard by now and unlocked me. I coulda had the ring slinger or Gar whip us up some green diversions. Man I shoulda brought Donna.  
  
Here I was hanging by my wrists as the Scarecrow attempted to select the perfect toxin to inject in me. To tell you the truth, I was feeling a lot like the first time I took a hit. That was a scary thought, but I wasn't going to let this freak know that.  
  
"Nope, abandonment won't work, That was my Father and my dead and brought back to life mentor. Nope, losing loved ones won't work, My kid's been kidnapped so many times it just pisses me off and my one true love tried to kill me so often I'm losing my patience with the emotion. Nope, losing control won't work." But pissing you off seems to be. "I was an addict. I've already lost that and battled back. So now you're gonna have to be all generic. I've seen em all."  
  
"Yes. I see that. You are a special one Arsenal. Or should I call you Mr. Harper?"  
  
"You can call me a toaster for all I give a shit, freaky. You got acne under that bag?"  
  
"Well, the thiopental sodium seems to be working."  
  
"You're a scientist. You should know that all truth serum does is relax a subject and make him chatty. What a dummy." Checkmate training is so useful. "What, you gonna feed me more garlic water? Come on. I always wanted to be analyzed by an honest to god criminal psychologist." I laughed in the guy's face at my pun. Scarecrow was about to pop. I could see his fists balling up. "Nope, not afraid of being beaten up either. Keep thinkin there Johnny."  
  
"Don't," shrieked the villain as he punched me in the gut, "ever call me Johnny."  
  
"Sure thing, straw for brains." My head snapped back. "Son of a... the face?"  
  
*** *** Dick*** ***  
  
Every time it's a new variation on the same theme, Crane. Every time I work through it. I see her in my mind. The doorbell rings. The door opens and two shots ring out, she falls. Again I see her walking to the door, I cry out a warning, and again two shots she falls. Again The doorbell rings and I throw a glass at the gun. She falls. Again the doorbell, the shots, and the scream. She looks right at me.  
  
"You were with her, on another world, weren't you? That's why I won't give my heart to you. That's why I ended up like this. Because you were with her."  
  
I find the kernel of hate and focus it on Crane.  
  
*** *** Wally *** ***  
  
There's a lot to be said for super speed metabolism. About twenty minutes after I passed out, the nasty fear toxin had run its course. The fun part now would be getting Dick and Roy out of here without screwing up and getting gassed again. Not fun, so seriously not fun; no wonder Dick never explained what that felt like. I did not get up. Playing possum is one of those things you learn from the best. Lone Ranger episodes on TV. I strained my ears for sounds of Roy or that creep, the Scarecrow.  
  
"... Manipulating ME!!!" Oh there was Dr Crane now.  
  
"Analyze me, you shit! Analyze me!" And there was the amazing Roy Harper with the diversion. One thing about Arsenal you could always count on him to come through. I vibrated through the side of the cage with explosive results and out the door where I caught a sweet whiff of fresh air. I ran straight back in and rescued Dick, Roy could handle himself. When I got him out of the cage I wasn't totally expecting the look he had in his eyes.  
  
"Where is he." He said through gritted teeth. He looked ready to kill.  
  
"Calm down, Wingnut, just take it easy. I got this one." Fast acting Flash, that's the ticket. I sped myself up to the point where even the very air molecules were standing still. The perfect calm, the stillness of vibrating so fast that a vacuum is created, there's nothing like it. Not only for meditating, which Max has been bugging me to do, but also for letting any gasses fill the void. Before my eyes, I saw the air populate with the gas, which I funneled into a coke bottle and corked. I stole the speed from the darts being shot at Dick as I concentrated on the goal of removing all the Scarecrow's playthings.  
  
Dick had made it to the room where Roy was being held as I took out the chemicals to the local hazardous materiel site in Hutchinson.  
  
"You ok, Roy?" I asked.  
  
"Sure, sure. Wing! Look..." Roy ducked instinctively in the chains. Dick, oblivious to the danger around him, was picking the locks on Roy's shackles when he'd shouted. In an amazing movie like move he backhanded a thug without even looking. "Out." Roy finished, smirking, and then golf clapped as best he could in the chains.  
  
The snikt of a lock opening just barely masked the click of a gun. I hit the speed and caught the bullets on their way to perforate my buddies. On impulse, I stepped back as Roy flung a bed pan at the shooter, knocking the burlapped baddie across the head and dropping him like a stone.  
  
"I think I need to lie down now," said Roy wearily. The color drained out of his face and he collapsed.  
  
To Be concluded in pt 4. Quick Explanation. 


End file.
